The applicator \ inserter looks like it is came straight out of one of the transformers movies. I was just waiting for it to transform and I was trying to put in my first sensor but the system is very quick and easy to use. I think that a big plus of the Dexcom system of the Paradigm (medtronic) system is that the needle is small and very unobtrusive. I could remember the Metronic system, the inserter needle looked the size of a railroad spike and didn’t feel much better. Everytime I think back about having to insert a new sensor every 3 days (6 if you stretched it) it reminds me of the scene in Pulp Fiction where John Trivolta jams an Epi pen into Uma Thurmans chest.. Yeah, not a pleasant situation. The Dexcom inserter is virtually unnoticeable and makes the process quicker, easier and as painless as an infusion set change… and that is a piece of cake.

In addition to the comfort and ease of use inserting the sensor, this thing is amazingly accurate. I can’t count how many times that my blood sugar tests were within 10 points of the Dexcom reading and so many of those were even within 5 points or less. That kind of accuracy was unheard of when I was using the paradigm system. I felt so comfortable with the numbers that the Dexcom has been giving me that I felt that if I missed a BG test that I could rely on the numbers of the Dexcom to give me my current Blood Sugar. I actually ended up testing more since using the system because I just wanted to see how close my testing number would be compared to my Dexcom. Now I will say that the only time that I would see some variation between my tests and the Dexcom is after a meal and I could see the Dexcom recording high number rising quickly due to my meal or snack being high carb or a miscalculated carb counting. Those times, I would see a 30 or 40 point variation between the two but this was not often and when it did happen, I actually found that if I did a calibration, it would bring the number within a reasonable range of my actual blood sugar and would tighten right back up to my < 10 point variation.

I will say that any reservations I had about CGM systems before have all been thrown out the window thanks to Dexcom. I’m not trying to knock Metronics system because the integration into their pumps with the CGM is a definite plus over the larger, seperate hardware of the Dexcom but for me, that is the only redeeming quality it has over the Dexcom, and that is defintely not enough to steer me to Metronic over Dexcom. Accuracy wil win it everytime over convience for me. Anyone thinking about a CGM or those who are currently using the Medtronics system, Dexcom is the way to go if you want comfort and accuracy in managing your Diabetes.

Thanks Dexcom, for getting your priorities straight and putting in the effort to emphasize what is important for us Diabetics. I am sold on the system.

Today when I got home from work, I had a wonderful brown surprise left at my front door, and no it was not left by the neighbors dog. I bring the box inside and proceed to rip it open to find the following Diabetes Swag:

I felt like a kid in a candy store. I love new toys, especially when they are tech toys.

Without any previous experience with the Dexcom system, I had to do the unthinkable… RTFM. It was nothing like the Paradigm system that I had a year or so back, so I had to resort to reading the manual. After skimming the manual and tearing into the boxes, I got through my first sensor install and calibration. I could go on and on about what was involved but I will leave that for another post. The thing I really wanted to bring up it the tech itself. Like I said before, this is not some brand new crazy technology just coming to the market but it was new to me and I was happy to have it.

The one common denominator that I see with all diabetes related technology is that it all looks like it has come out of the 80′s. This is one area where the technological advances in Diabetes has been lack-luster at best. Whether it is CGM’s insulin pumps or meters, they are all so big. Look at cellphone technology, phones keep getting smaller and thinner and the screens keep getting bigger and more vibrant. I really don’t understand why some of these meters or CGM’s, like the Dexcom, can’t be made more streamlined. If companies can fit everything but the kitchen sink into a cellphone the size of a business card holder, why do meters have to be so big and bulky? It makes carrying around a meter, CGM and pump much more of a hassle than it needs to be purely because one of these items can barely fit comfortably fit in your pocket. I would love to see one of the big pharma companies who manufacture these items, to try and made a meter that is the size of a business card holder. This is not a stretch. With all of these manufacturing these meters and basically giving them away, I would pay money if one of these companies came out with one that I could fit in my pocket and not think twice about it.

Like I said, I am a big tech geek and being a diabetic as well, I have to rely on technology (to some degree) in order to try to live a normal live. Why not bring the Diabetes tech into the 21st century and not feel like Crocket and Tubbs carrying a bag phone around. I am hoping in the next few weeks to tear down one of my extra meters and a phone that is streamlined. Don’t get em wrong, I will take function over form all day long but I don’t see why we can’t have both.

I accepted the fact that I would lose out on my CGM but gain a new pump that had some features that I really wished the Paradigm had to start with. I knew that there were other CGMs out there and I knew \ know some who use them and are very happy with them. The one that really comes to the forefront of this list is the Dexcom system. I knew this was a great system and had some benefits even over the Paradigm system. So I figured I would look into seeing if I could get one of these and use it along with my Ping. I contacted my supplier of my Diabetes supplies and they told me, “Oh yeah, we can get you into one of those. We just need to get approval from your insurance and then we can send it right out” When I heard that, I though, ‘now I have to go through that year long process again to get approved for another CGM.’ That was not on the top of my list of things I wanted to do. so I asked since I had already been approved for the Paradigm CGM, couldn’t I be grandfathered in or something on the approval. Unfortunately, because they are 2 different system, I would have to get approval again. I decided I didn’t feel like going through the headache again and would just do without.

Well, a few weeks ago when I was reordering supplies, the lady I was talking to saw in my file that I had started the process of getting a Decom  system but never finished. So she asked me if I was still interested in persuing it and I let her know my situation and she said that they had had a lot of success getting approval for CGMs with very little work on the patients side. I figured if that was the case, no reason not to try. She said all I should need is 30 days of logs that show evidence of numbers in the 40′s. For me, that is an easy one because I hit in the 40′s on a semi regular basis. So I faxed her over my logs and she told me that it should take 2-3 days to get a response back. She also let me know that my insurance would cover 100% of the device and supplies if I were approved. Another reason why I love my insurance. So that was this past Thursday.

This morning I get a call from Edge Park (my Diabetic supplies distributor) “Mr. Bishop, This is Jordan from Edge Park. I just wanted to let you know that your were approved for the Dexcom 7+ system” YES!!! I was actually a little bit surprised, I was half expected them to tell me that you were denied and that I need to contact my insurance to go through to challenge their denial. Nope, everything is approved and the Dexcom 7+ and a 12 week supply of senors is going out today. By the end of the week, I will be joining the Dexcom Posse.

Now why can’t all insurance my getting the CGM this easy.

image courtesy of Cognitive Design

By now, everyone online involved with Diabetes and Social Media have heard and / or read about the trainwreck of an article about Diabetes written by Wendell Fowler. If you haven’t, I think you had better climb out from underneath your virtual rock because the last 2 weeks, twitter, facebook, Google+ and other Social Media sites touched by Diabetes have slammed Mr. Fowler for his article. For those who missed it, you can find it here:

Pandering to Diabetics? You Bet!

To make matter worse, both Mr. Fowler and his editor published a response to the backlash the article and Mr. Fowler received. These supposed apologies were a horrifically failed attempt at an apology and were more of an attempt to save face while stating in not so many words “we weren’t wrong, you were.” You can find these sorry excuses for journalism here (no, I’m not bitter…):

Wendell Fowlers’ Response:

Trying to Find Common Ground

Roger Huntzingers’ Response

Opening the Diabetes Discussion

OK, now that all the dirty laundry has been aired, its time to get to the important stuff. So I think that one of the biggest issues with this article (other than the complete lack of research and credible information it contained) was that Mr. Fowler attacked a local group who was holding an Ice Cream Social fundraiser to raise money and awareness for Diabetes research. This brought on a great campaign idea in response to Mr. Fowler.

A Diabetic Ice Cream Social

The fact is that a PWD (person with Diabetes) can eat ice cream. In fact, we can eat anything we want. We just have to be conscious of what we eat and account for the carbs in it. So, that is what this is all about. It is a worldwide ice cream social to let everyone know that we are Diabetics and we can eat some iced cream and live a regular life. You can bet that I will be enjoying an ice cream on August 5th between 7pm-10pm and I want everyone who has Diabetes: Type 1s, Type 2s, Type 1.5s and everyone who is affected by Diabetes in one way or another to participate. This “Online Social”, while horrible how it had to come to be, is a great way to spread the word about Diabetes and to discredit some of the myths that society has about Diabetes. So, please join us with a scoop of your frozen treat on August 5th and know that you are helping to break down those walls of ignorance.

For those of you who know me before my blogging hiatus, are familar with my artistic and design background / passion. Design and art was always on my mind and a part of my blogs since I started blogging. Whether it was the actual design of my blog or a side project, art and design always had a strong presence. One of the most fun and most received projects that I decided on was the Diabetic Superhero site. It started because I wanted something interesting and different for my blog and from looking at many of the design sites I frequent for inspiration, I ran accross an artist who did drawings of superheroes. This immediately gave me an idea to integrate superheroes & villians into the design of my blog. So, what I did was create a different header everytime I would write a new blog post. This got me a fair amount of positive reactions from fellow DOC members and readers. I decided, since this got such a good response, that I would expand it out to my blogroll. I would create an image of a superhero that represented each blogger in my blogroll. Lets just say that the response was great. So much so that I decided to move my blogroll to it’s own domain and host a seperate site for my blogroll. Each blogger would have their own superhero, with some statistics (name, alias, location, blog etc) along with a brief description about them. when I got this rolling and started telling people about it, I got a bunch of requests from people who were not originally on my blogroll, to create a superhero page for them. Needless to say, it was a hit. Then, when my burnout hit, I closed down my blog and cancelled my hosting subscription which removed my blog and my Diabetic Superhero site.

Well, Now that I am back and am excited again about blogging and getting back into my involvement in the Diabetes online world, I started thinking that I wanted another project in addition to my blog. I figure that this is the perfect opportunity to revive the Diabetic Superhero blogroll / site. While there will likely be similarities to the old site, I want to change it up just a little. I have quite a few ideas brewing and am really excited to  get it started again. For those who read this entry, I am going to give you the first opportunity to become a part of this. If you are interested in becoming a Diabetic Superhero, let me know in the comments section. There are going to be a few things that I will need from you if you want to be a part of this:

1. Your name – A superhero must have a secret identity
2. A picture – I like to base my superheros off of the physical attributed of the person. I am not asking for you to give me a picture, I just need a reference. So if you can point me to where there is a picture of you, that would be great.
3. A brief description / bio – If you have an about page on your blog that tells me a little bit about you and your story, that would be great.
4. Where you live (city, State) – Where does our mighty superhero reside
5. When you were diagnosed – The birthdate of the Diabetic Superhero
6.  What type of diabetic you are (T1 / T2 / T1.5 / Parent of)

I’m not trying to get anything out of this other than the joy of putting this together and to spread the word that we Diabetics are superheroes and fight a battle everyday against our arch enemy, Diabetes.  I am really excited to revive this and I hope that everyone wants to get involved in this. As the project progresses, I will post updates and post up on Twitter, Google+ and maybe even Facebook. So stay tuned for the new and improved Diabetic Superheroes.

The Ping has been a little temperamental this week. Up to this point, it has been smooth sailing, but this week with 3 occlusions, some insulin that did not feel like obeying and an outright disconnect, I’d say the honeymoon is over.

IN the 2 years that I had my Medtronic Pump, between the multiple different infusion sets I tried before finding one I really liked and the pump itself, I could count on 1 hand the number of times I had an occlusion (I can only think of 3 but there could have been a few more) and before this week, smooth sailing with the Ping. Well, two times early in the week, I go to bolus for a meal, I dial everything in, press go and I can hear the wheels turning and then… BEEP!…Occlusion, not primed error. Well, never having one of these errors before I figured this could be a tubing issue or reservoir / pump issue. Since starting with the Ping, I have been using the Accu-Check Rapid-D infusion sets primarily because of the metal canula and have been very happy with them. Not knowing what was causing the issue, I disconnected the quick release on the infusion set, and primed the Ping. As the device was priming, I could here it come to life and forcing the insulin through the tubing until a stream of Apidra squirted from the opening. So, problem resolved and life goes back to normal (at least what we like to call normal.) Then Thurs. evening rolls around and ANOTHER occlusion error. 3 in 1 week is just crazy, and this one come after changing my infusion set that morning. So, once again, I disconnect via my quick-connect and prime the pump again. The difference this time is when it primes, I hear it wind up and then start slowing down and comes to a beeping halt with some illegible error code.  Great, its clogged. So this time, I have to get a new infusion set and change the entire set again. Now the thing with the Rapid-D infusion sets is that they are a 2 part set. here is a pic:

each box of Rapid-D infusion sets comes with 10 cannula sections and 5 transfer sections. these two pieces clip together to make the complete infusion set. so you can only change the transfer section every other infusion set change. I don’t always change the transfer section if the infusion set every other time so some of these issues could be my fault. Anyway, I change my entire infusion set, prime and everything is back to normal again.

So on Saturday, while playing in the pool with the kids, trying to cool down from this infernal heat, I noticed that I could feel my tubing flapping around. That is one thing i love about this pump, it is waterproof. Definitely makes outdoor and water activities easier to deal with. Sorry, back on topic…when I went to grab the tubing to tuck it back in my shorts, I pulled the tubing out of the water and one end is loose and has no connector. Somehow, the tubing got ripped right out of the quick release clasp. I figured that one of my girls got caught in the tubing as we were wrestling around in the water. Well, there was no way of fixing this and of course, I didn’t have an extra infusion set with me, so I just disconnected completely and put the pump in my bag and went back to playing with the kids. Luckily, I had just the right ratio of insulin onboard to activity with the kids that there were no issues with high or low blood sugars.

So, as you can see, this last week was not exactly a highlight reel for pumping but the best thing is that every issue was easily addressed and delt with. I love my Animas pump and even with the issues I had this past week, I would not trade my decision that I made to switch from Medtronic to Animas for anything. The features that initially made me look into switching to Animas (color screen, waterproof, quick bolus delivery etc.) are the reason that I still love my pump, issues and all.

Earlier this week, The Southside Times online newspaper published an article that brought quite an uproar to the Diabetes online community, and for good reason. The author of this article, Wendell Folwer, discusses how the wrong message is being sent about Diabetes when a local Diabetes organization holds an ice cream social to raise funds and awareness for diabetes research. the worst thing about this article was the continuous lies and misinformation that Mr. Fowler wrote in this article. I thought that I would pick out some of the highlights of the article because if I recapped them all, I would just be copying and pasting the article.

“Keep in mind that 1 in 10 Americans has diabetes. By 2050 the CDC predicts 1 in 3 may have this devastating, yet avoidable life-changer.”

“This event was partially sponsored by Smucker’s and the dairy industry.  Now you see why diabetes is proliferating.”

“Price is Right host Drew Cary recently corralled his diabetes and lost 80 pounds after stopping all sugars and carbs. He focused on fresh fruits and vegetables and clean protein. That’s all.”

“ It’s crystal clear why rates surge when diabetics are encouraged to eat just a little of the poison.”

These 4 statements are riddled with lies and\or inaccuracies. In the first statement he mentions ‘this devastating, yet avoidable life-changer’ While there is a percentage of Type 2 Diabetics who could reverse this with exercise and a healthy diet because their Diabetes is directly related to their obesity. The problem with this statement is that he lumps all Diabetics into one pot and basically says you can avoid and cure diabetes by just eating right. What a bunch of crap. Diabetes is an auto-immune disease that, for all type 1s and type 2s that did not become Diabetic due to their obesity, can not be cured. Period. Don’t throw facts out unless you have them straight.

In the second statement, once again, he is playing the “poor diet causes Diabetes” by blaming it on the sponsor of the fundraiser. Once again, Mr. Fowler, food is not the source of Diabetes, it is our bodies incorrectly fighting and killing the good cells in our body that create insulin. If you are going to blam anyone, blame them. Smuckers is doing a job and promoting their product, not backing a disease. If you had done your reaseach before writing your article, I would be writing this post and you would be inidated with a mob of heated Diabetic online community members giving you an earful.

I think this 3rd statement is the most blatant example of you not doing your research (but the other 3 are not far behind.) Drew Carey is/was a type 2 Diabetic due to his obesity. His body fat acted like a shield against the insulin in his body. The fat did not allow him to absorb the insulin he need to control his bloodsuger. Because of this, he was diagnosed with type 2 Diabetes. a balanced diet and exersize was all that he needed to no longer be a type 2 Diabetic. the part of the 3rd statement that shows how uneducated he is on this subject, and makes me question his nutritional knowledge, is the fact that he stated that he cut out all sugar and carbs. I’m sorry but cutting out all sugar and carbs is virtually impossible. Your body need these to function. Yes, there are good and bad carbs \ sugars but your body can not function if you completely eliminate these. It scares me to think that Mr. Fowler claims to be a Nutritional Consultant. I feel sorry for his clients.

The last of his statements just makes me so made that I can feel my fists clenching everytime I read or think about it. This so-called poison he speaks of is sugar. While sugar in excess, for anyone, is unhealthy, it is more dangerous for Diabetics but it is far from poison. In some circumstances, sugar is the breath of life for a Diabetic. For a Diabetic caught in a severe low blood sugar to to extreme exercise, a miscalculation in dosage or one of those ‘where the hell did that low come from’ times, sugar is the only thing that can keep you from dropping lower and potentially dying. So sugar, especially for a diabetic, is the farthest thing from poison.

Well you know, I could go on for days and days about Mr. Fowler, his article, his lack of knowledge on the subject of Diabetes and about a hundred other things that come to mind right now, but I will just end by saying this:

Journalist have a very powerful and influential voice in the world. Their words can educate millions but can just as quickly destroy foundation that so many have worked so hard to build. Please, before you write, do your research. Double, triple and quadruple check it. regardless of the type of words you write, be it fact, fiction, opinion or advice, just know that people are reading and believe what you say. So make sure you are sending the correct message.

Stay tuned, more to come abotu the backlash and what Mr. Fowler has to say next.

It doesn’t really make sense for me to start from the beginning because, for one, that is not where I am at in my life right now. Far from it actually. This is not my first time around the block with Diabetes or writing about it. In fact this is my third run at it (a blog that is.) I love talking about my Diabetes and I love when I know that someone else has learn or gotten something out of what I have said or done. I think that is a big part of why I keep coming back to blogging. That and the DOC (Diabetic Online Community) is one unlike any other group I have know. They are accepting, non-judgmental and always there when you need help, advice or just a kind word. That is something that I have definitely missed over the last 9 months or so. I look like it almost like an addiction. No matter where you go or what you do, it is always there tempting you back. Luckily for me, its an addiction I will happily go back to.

I feel like a big part of my issue with blogging in the past was burnout. I feel like I tried to hard to make sure that I was always writing about Diabetes and made sure I posted something at least every other day. While it is great to have ideals and goal like those, for me, I think I was just trying too hard which caused me to burn out on something I actually enjoy doing. Looking back at it now, if I could do it over again, I know that there would be things that I would do the same way again but there would also be thing that I would change. Well, considering I can’t go back in time, I figured I could do the next best thing by respecting my blog and reinventing my blog and myself in a way that will keep my interest in blogging and keep me from burning out. So, I decided it was time to rebuild and reconstruct my blog, my interest in Diabetes and informing the public about What this epidemic really is.

While this is and will be a blog about myself and my Diabetes, I really can’t limit it to just my Diabetes (and Diabetes in general.) My life is Diabetes. I live with the disease everyday of my life. No matter what I do, every moment of everyday is affected by my Diabetes, whether it is directly or indirectly. I think this is where I fell short and failed on my previous blogs. I tried to stay to focused on the actual disease and its direct effects on my life and others. I missed the other side of the Diabetic coin. the things that are indirectly related to Diabetes. Things like going swimming with my kids spending 14 hours working on my car (yes, 14 hours straight, but that is for another time.) While these things may not have caused me to have a high or low bloodsugar or had any direct effect on my Diabetes, Diabetes was still involved because it is always with me. It never sleeps, takes a break, goes into remission. It is 24/7/365 and that is not going to change anytime soon. So, since Diabetes isn’t going to take a breather while I take my daughter to her first swim lessons, then why should I.

Now this doesn’t mean that I am going to write a post about what I had for much today or what I got in the mail, it just means that when I write about something, it may not have Diabetes written all over it, but that does not mean that Diabetes wasn’t involved, it might just mean that Diabetes decided to behave itself, so that I could have a memorable moment without “The Big D” rearing its ugly head.

So, I may post often and I may go days without a post. I will post when there is something worth posting and it might be something very much about Diabetes and it may be the fartest thing from it but because it was about me, Diabetes had some part to play. So welcome to the ramblings of a Diabetic trying to reconstruct and live his life with and without Diabetes one day at a time.

… and for those of you who have known me from my previous blogs, I may decide to revive the Diabetic Superheroes once again. Thart was one project I had so much fun with and really do miss.

- Chris Bishop,
The Diabetic Reconstructed